Kinston resident to appear on Jeopardy’

The answer: This Kinston native will make an appearance on “Jeopardy” Sept. 23.

Noah Clark - Halifax Media Services

KINSTON | The answer: This Kinston native will make an appearance on “Jeopardy” Sept. 23.

The question: Who is Cathrine Hardee?

Hardee said the process of getting on the show began with an online test in January.

“It’s 50 questions and you have 10 seconds to answer each question,” she said.

Hardee, who graduated with a master’s degree in history from Liberty University in May, said contestants who pass the test are then selected for in-person auditions. Hardee went to Raleigh for the audition in March where she took another test, played a mock game and was interviewed.

“They want to see your personality and measure if you will be good on TV,” she said.

Contestants are then put into a contestant pool for 18 months, and they can be called at any time to be on the show.

Hardee said it was her fourth time auditioning for the show.

“Apparently the fourth time was the charm,” she said.

Hardee received the phone call that she would be on the show in June.

“I saw the message on my phone around 1 a.m. and my mom and roommate were asleep so I called my sister in Alaska because she was the only person who I knew would still be awake at that time,” she said.

She then flew out to California, along with her mother, to tape her appearance on July 16. The show is scheduled to air on Sept. 23.

Hardee said she prepared by looking though questions on the Jeopardy archives.

“It’s a website where really obsessive people have logged every single game of Jeopardy ever played,” she said. “They have every single question and answer so you can go through and see what kinds of topics come up.”

While she was at Liberty, Hardee was part of a quiz bowl team that participated in national competitions.

She said both her major and being on the quiz bowl team helped her be prepared for the show.

“It helped me to hone my memory skills and the quiz bowl was important because I learned a lot of things that I already kind of knew, but hearing them over and over again helped,” she said. “What’s important with Jeopardy is instant recall. You have to know it really quickly.”

Hardee said she can’t reveal the results of her appearance, but when she got on stage it was a surreal experience.